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The Ashes 2023 got underway on Friday, June 16 at Edgbaston as England captain Ben Stokes won the toss and elected to bat first. Zak Crawley gave the perfect beginning to the series as he crunched Australian captain Pat Cummins for a boundary off the very first ball of the Test.
Australia got their first success as Josh Hazlewood dismissed Ben Duckett (12) in the fourth over. They further got two more wickets in the first session dismissing Ollie Pope (31) and Zak Crawley (61). Post Lunch, Harry Brook tried to continue the attack (32 off 37), however, he got dismissed in a bizarre manner against Nathan Lyon. Stokes also departed cheaply (1) to leave England reeling at 176/5.
Seeing their team in trouble, Jonny Bairstow (78 off 78) and Joe Root added 121 runs for the sixth wicket. Bairstow got out stumped trying to up the ante against Nathan Lyon while Root continued to bat and brought up his hundred. He got good support from Moeen Ali (18 off 17), Stuart Broad (16 off 21) and Ollie Robinson (17*) as England declared the innings on 393/8.
Australian openers Usman Khawaja and David Warner walked out to the middle to face a tricky half an hour of play without stumps. Both batters managed to bat through stumps as Australia finished the day on 14/0.
Top Performers of the Day
Joe Root
The star batter once again rose to the occasion for his team and held one end. Root’s innings was studded with extravagant reverse scoops and reverse sweeps as he brought up his 30th Test ton. He remained unbeaten on 118* off 152 smashing seven fours and four sixes in his innings.
Nathan Lyon
The off-spinner found good assistance on the Day 1 track at Edgbaston as he finished as the pick of the bowlers for his side. Lyon got rid of Ollie Pope, Harry Brook Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali to finish the day with figures of 4/149 in 29 overs.
